Fleshing out a character

i've written something that's gotten great feedback, but people want the main character to be more empathetic. how do i do it without making him into a trope?

You don't. Your main character doesn't have to be empathetic.

>people want

Why do you care what people want? Tailor a character that fits your story man. Give him traits you see in people you admire or abhor. Give him secrets, give him shame.

All human personalities are tropes, my man.

double down and make him a rapist.

does that make him more or less likable?

Describe him to us.

A character's likability depends on the reader. Different people like different things. So, first thing, get a good handle on who you expect to be reading this thing.

People like other people who value the same things. If your reader thinks racial pride/religious piety/marital fidelity/national identiy/whatever the fuck is important, they'll like a character who thinks the same. This only holds for major, life-directing values, though. They don't need to have the same philosophy about professional sports, or hobbies, or other low level shit.

In that vein, you don't have to strive to make the character just like the reader. The reader will probably see through all attempts to do so.

Also, people like people who are attractive. And if you're marketing to ugly people and want identification, make the character just slightly below average looking. An ugly protagonist is commercial suicide.

Speaking of identification, the right way to build it is by having the character wanting the same things and facing the same obstacles as the reader. The wrong way to build it is to try and have them watch the same TV shows and listen to the same music. Don't be superficial.

This is a corny thing I wrote in response to a prompt sent to me about the main character:

Alex's personality combines a nurtured entitlement and an imperious nature with a deep confidence – in the power of analysis and his own capacity to domesticate it. He would be at home on a conquistador’s ship bound for the new world, or in a Roman general’s tent on the eve of war; but his feeling of rectitude is derived from faith in utter rationality, not in god or emperor. For every person who has a like-minded approach to the world, or who paints its mask on during their morning commute, there are ten others who live with and tolerate them. It is a mindset that has conquered the known world, and installed many of its own values as rulers. To better understand Alex's flaws and vulnerabilities is to better understand some of the problems with the world around us.

That makes him sound like a redditor. Though if you yourself call it corny then it's probably not the most strictly accurate description.

Yawn. The world doesn't submit so easily to "utter rationality"; we're far too clique-y for that.

The conquistador did not get his ship because he argued rationally for its merits.

He got it by sucking the King's dick.

Seconded.